Lifter and carrier



LIFTER AND CARRIER Filed Apri/1 19,"1'944 RALPH F la7/vk fav ,f l AT1-ORN y Patented Oct. 2, 1945 f" f UNITED kvs'mrlas nalrlsivrl ortica ricerca ANDy CARRIER y Ralph Ii". Fink, Excelsior, Minn.

' Application April 19, 1944, Serial No. 531,781

eciaims. (c1. 294-16) A This invention relates to article lifting and handling devices and the primary object is to provide a simple, eiiicient, and practical device of Ythat nature which is particularly adapted for handling heavy and bulky objects such as bags of grain, flour or other material conventionally packed and shipped in large bags or sacks ;v and which, as is well known, are very awkward and difficult to lift andca-rry because of their weight, bulk, and shape. i

The invention essenti-ally comprises a pair of hingedly connected, arcuately formed arms having gripper plates at their outer ends, and a pair of handles, each adjacent one of the plates, for manipulating the device, these handles being so arr-anged that when engaged by the operators hands they can operate to place the connected gripper plates upon opposite sides of the bag to be lifted so that a rm grip on the latter will be effected. By the use of the same handles the operator can then lift the bag and conveniently carry it where necessary, after which the device is merely opened, by the same handles, to release the load and is then in readiness for'immediate re-use on another Ibag or article to be handled.

Further and more detailed objects will be disclosed in the course of the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, wherein the single ligure is a perspective view of the device showing it in operative position on a iilled sack, designated in dotted lines.

Referring to the drawing more particularly and by reference characters A designates generally the lifting device, and B designates (in dotted lines) the articles to be lifted and carried, in this case the article being shown in the form of a common type of grain, flour or other bulk article bag.

TheV lifting device includes two arcuately formed arms l and 2, pivotally joined as at 3, so that the arms are free to swing in wide arcs relatively to each other. Each arm is made up of two overlapping sections 4 and 5, one of which is longitudinally slotted, as at 6, to receive .bolts 1, having wing nuts 8, whereby the arms may be adjusted as to length.

At their outer end portions, and upon their inner surfaces, the arms I and 2 are provided with gripping plates 9, the same being secured by rivets or bolts I0, the inner or opposed surfaces of these plates are preferably lined, milled, corrugated, or otherwise roughened so as to firmly grip the surface material of the bag to be lifted and carried. The same rivets or bolts l may also be used to attach a pair of gripping handles I l which project suiiicientlyso that' the operator can firmly engage and hold them in his hands. f

,The operation of the device, while probably obvious, may be briefly described as' follows:

- lWhen a filled bag, either prone or erect`,ris to be lifted and placed upon a truck or carried-to another location, the operator grasps the handles H and spreads the arms until the gripper plates can be-positioned: as shown, with the arms encircling one side of the bagw The arms are then brought in aboutthe bag until the roughenedinner surfaces of the plates '9l establish 4firm contact with the bag surface. As the operator then lifts on the handles very little inward pressure is required to maintain the gripping contact, and the bag can .be lifted with comparative ease and carried. When the bag is then again set down it is only necessary to spread the arms to release the device for further service.

I1; is preferable to have the arms of such length so that they will encircle somewhat more than half the circumference of the bag, as the plate gripping contact is then most effective, and, since bags vary in size, the arms are adjustable to dierent lengths, as at 6 8, so that when the operator is working on a number of bags of similar size and shape, as often occurs, he can adjust the arms to best' accommodate the device to meet each circumstance.

It is understood that suitable modifications may be made in the structure as disclosed, provided such modifications come within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Having now therefore fully illustrated and described my invention, what I claim to be new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A device of the characterdescribed comprising a pair of curved arms hingedly connected at inner adjacent ends, frictional gripping plates secured upon the inner surfaces of the outer ends of said arms, and handles extending from the outer ends of the arms at points adjacent the gripping plates at least one of said arms being composed of overlapping sections, one of which has a slot and the other of which has a bolt extending through said slot whereby the arm may be adjusted as to length.

2. A lifter and carrier for a iilled bag or the like comprising an arcuately curved, flat, straplike device of such length and curvature as to pass around and embrace more than half the circumference of the bag when engaging the same, the ends of the device being relatively movable whereby they may be spread and closed toward tions spaced from said surfaces.

3, A lifter and carrierfor a lled like comprising an arcuately curved, flat, strap like gripping device of such length and curvature as to pass around and embrace more than half the circumference of the bag when in gripping contact therewith, the ends of the device being bag or the relatively movable whereby they may be spread and closed toward each other,v gripping plates of substantially greater Widths than the device at-vr tached to the ends of the device for flat gripping contact with the surface of the bag, and handles secured to the ends of the device adjacent the gripping plates and in substantial parallelism n therewith. 4. A lifter and carrier for a filled bag or thev like v,comprising a curved gripping device of suchV gripping plates mounted on the ends of the de-` vice and'having large gripping surfaces for frictional engagement with relatively large surfaces of the bag, and operating handles mounted upon the backs of the 'plates in substantial parallelism therewith.

5. A lifter and carrierv for a iilled bag or the like comprising a curved gripping device of such length as to pass around and embrace more than half ythe circumference Aof the bag when in gripping engagement therewith, the ends of the device being movable towardjand away from each otherwhereby the bag may be gripped and released,gripping plates mountedon the ends of Ethe device and having large gripping surfaces for frictional engagement with relatively large surfaces of the bag, and operating handles mounted upon the backs of the plates in substantial parallelism therewith, the gripping deviceL including two4 pivotally connected sections.

6 A lifter and carrier comprising a Ycurved strap-like device formed of band material and adapted to be closed about a filled bag to embrace the same and then opened to release the bag, the device being of greater than semi-circular length .when in closed position, handles attached to the ends ofthe vdevice to operate the same and by which the bag may be carried, frictional gripping plates secured upon the inner sides of the device at the ends thereof and being ofY substantially greater.dimension vertically than the vertical Width of the' band ma@ terial.`

v RALPH F. FlNK. 

